Bazooka Joe and His Gang

By The Topps Company and Talley Morse

The story behind the iconic comic characters and the bubble gum they came with—includes over 100 reproductions spanning six decades.

Bazooka Joe and his Gang have been synonymous with bubble gum ever since their debut in 1953, providing an irresistible combination of cheap laughs wrapped around pink, sugary sweetness. This book celebrates the iconic mini-comics that are recognized the world over and reveals their origins in midcentury New York City. The story of Bazooka Bubble Gum is also detailed with extensive essays, including a profile of Wesley Morse, the original illustrator of Bazooka Joe. Included are reproductions of more than 100 classic comics spanning six decades—including the complete first series, reprinted in its entirety for the first time—as well as jokes, fortunes, and tiny ads for mail-order merchandise. Like Bazooka Bubble Gum itself, the book is pure nostalgia and a treat for kids and adults alike.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: May 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781613124710

Book preview

BAZOOKA JOE AND HIS GANG have been synonymous with bubble gum ever since their debut sixty years ago, providing an irresistible combination of cheap laughs wrapped around pink, sugary sweetness. This first-ever compilation celebrates these iconic mini-comics recognized the world over, and includes extensive essays by Talley Morse, Nancy Morse, Kirk Taylor, Len Brown, R. Sikoryak, Bhob Stewart, and Jay Lynch, as well as a profile of Wesley Morse, the original illustrator of Bazooka Joe. Included are high-quality reproductions of more than 100 classic comics—including the complete first series, reprinted in its entirety for the first time—complete with jokes, fortunes, and tiny ads for mail-order merchandise, along with rare advertisements, ephemera, photographs, preliminary sketches, and more!

OTHER TOPPS BOOKS AVAILABLE FROM ABRAMS:

Garbage Pail Kids

Mars Attacks

Wacky Packages

Wacky Packages New New New

Yankee Greats

Copyright © 2013 The Topps Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

Topps Chewing Gum shipping label, 1950s.

Bazooka Joe metal printing plate, 1973.

TO THE SHORIN FAMILY, WHOSE VISION, CREATIVITY, AND PERSEVERANCE ENTERTAINED GENERATIONS OF LOVING FANS AND PROVIDED A FUN PLACE TO WORK FOR THOUSANDS OF DEDICATED TOPPS EMPLOYEES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Thanks to Ira Friedman and Adam Levine at Topps; Len Brown, Jay Lynch, Nancy Morse, Talley Morse, Bob Sikoryak, Bhob Stewart, and Kirk Taylor (for editorial contributions, as well as patience, generosity, and all-around availability to help this book come together); Art Spiegelman (guidance and moral support); and Jeff Shepherd (for generously donating his collection and his time to make this book a reality. Without you, Jeff, this would have been just a random collection of comics). At Abrams ComicArts: Charles Kochman (editorial); Clarissa Wong (editorial assistance); Chad W. Beckerman, Sara Corbett, and Robyn Ng (design); David Blatty (managing editorial); and Alison Gervais (production and flexibility beyond measure). Also: Les Davis, The Wrapper (www.thewrappermagazine.com); Roxanne Toser and Harris Toser, Non-Sport Update (www.nonsportupdate.com); David Hornish at the Topps Archives blog (www.toppsarchives.blogspot.com); Frederick and Karen Taylor; Ben Berkley, Alyssa Wise, and Grant Ossler at the Onion; Bob Conway; Peter Maresca; and Gene Weingarten at the Washington Post. Finally, a very special thank-you to Woody Gelman and Wesley Morse for the creation of this material.

Editor: Charles Kochman

Editorial Assistant: Clarissa Wong

Designers: Chad W. Beckerman, Sara Corbett, and Robyn Ng

Managing Editor: David Blatty

Production Manager: Alison Gervais

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Topps Company.

Bazooka Joe and His Gang / by The Topps Company, Inc. ; selected by and from the collection of Jeff Shepherd ; preface by Talley Morse ; introduction by Nancy Morse and Kirk Taylor ; essays by Len Brown, R. Sikoryak, and Bhob Stewart ; afterword by Jay Lynch.—1 [edition].

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-4197-0632-5 (hardback)

1. Morse, Wesley, 1897–1963—Themes, motives. 2. Bazooka Joe and his gang (Comic strip) 3. Shepherd, Jeff–Art collections. I. Title.

NC1764.5.U62M672 2013

741.5′973—dc23

Copyright © 2013 The Topps Company, Inc.

Bazooka Joe and His Gang and Topps are registered trademarks of The Topps Company, Inc. All rights reserved.

Preface copyright © 2013 Talley Morse

Introduction copyright © 2013 Nancy Morse and Kirk Taylor

Woody Gelman and the Bazooka Joe Story copyright © 2013 Len Brown

Bubbling Over copyright © 2013 Bhob Stewart.

A version of this essay first appeared in Blab! no. 3,

edited by Monte Beauchamp, published by Kitchen

Sink Press in 1988.

Chew! Pop! Gum Wrappers Aren’t Just for Kids copyright © 2013 R. Sikoryak

Afterword copyright © 2013 Jay Lynch

COVER DESIGN: Sara Corbett

CASE PHOTOGRAPHY: Geoff Spear

Presentation piece by Wesley Morse, c. 1954.

Although Bazooka Joe was created in 1953, the first printed material was released to the public in Spring 1954.

The advertisements reprinted in this publication are included for historical and editorial purposes only. All offers are no longer valid.

The views expressed in the editorial commentary are solely those of the individuals providing them and do not represent the opinions of The Topps Company or the publisher.

For further information about Bazooka Joe, please visit www.bazookajoe.com and www.topps.com, or contact Jeff Shepherd at www.bubblegumarchives.com or at [e-mail].

Published in 2013 by Abrams ComicArts, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Abrams ComicArts is a registered trademark of Harry N. Abrams, Inc., registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Abrams ComicArts books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use. Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact [e-mail] or the address below.

115 West 18th Street

New York, NY 10011

www.abramsbooks.com

The following Bazooka Joe/Topps artists have been identified: Tom Bunk (this page), Robert Crumb (this page), Howard Cruse (this page, this page, this page), Jay Lynch (this page, this page), Wesley Morse (this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page), John Pound (this page), Norm Saunders (this page), and Craig Yoe (this page). As additional information becomes available leading to the identification of other artists included in this book, updates will be made in future reprints.

Unless otherwise noted below, all of the images were scanned from the collection of Jeff Shepherd.

From the Topps archives: this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page (top), this page, this page, this page (top), this page (top), this page, this page (top), this page (top), this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, this page, and rear endpaper.

Additional images courtesy of: Talley Morse and Nancy Morse: this page, this page, this page, this page, this page; Kirk Taylor: this page, this page, this page, this page, this page; Alex Winter, Hake’s Americana & Collectibles (www.hakes.com): this page, this page; Candy Industry magazine: this page; Mark Newgarden: this page; Chris Mosher: this page; The Taylor-Morse Collection: this page, this page; Jon Berk: this page; Chris Hart: this page; Richard Gelman: this page, this page; Robert Lifson, Robert Edward Auctions, LLC: this page; Howard Cruse: this page, this page, this page; Todd Riley: this page (left); Heritage Auctions (www.ha.com): this page; R. Sikoryak: this page, this page; Grant Geissman: this page; Jay Lynch: this page.

This page: Copyright © 1955 E.C. Publications, Inc. Used with permission.

Ancillary images: DC Comics/Fawcett Publications, Inc.: this page (bottom), this

Reviews for Bazooka Joe and His Gang

[franknstein-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent book about everyone's favorite bubblegum mascot, Bazooka Joe. Each chapter focusing on a different aspect/Joe connection is very readable and leaves you wanting more. The profuse amount of photographs are fun to browse through and cover area's other than just the comic panels. The photos of the prizes that you could have obtained by way of the bubblegum are a real treasure. Learn about the original artist and his other works, find out the baseball connection, see the unfinished Bazooka Joe comic and then the finished version. See comics that didn't make it or were withdrawn. 95% of everything having to do with Bazooka Joe and his friends are in this book. The other 5% could be the start of the 70th(+) anniversary book. There are more BJ cards to talk about, the BJ Classic Bubble Toons DVD's(in 2005), and BJ's family. A few years after the book came out, the English language comics returned in the Bazooka Throwback Bubble Gum.